This past Sunday (5/22) Cindy and
I finished another stellar cruise, this time on the Carnival
Breeze. Our friends and fellow Bay
Area Divers members, Keith and Barbara Seiser joined us on this western
Caribbean itinerary. We’ve never had a “bad” cruise, and this was no exception.
I firmly believe a cruise is what you make of it. This trip was nearly perfect.
We had great weather and generally mild seas the whole time.
Carnival Breeze
We first sailed the Breeze when
she was in Miami back in 2013. We booked this as part of a “back to back”
cruise. We spent the first week on the Carnival Liberty (also now homeported in
Galveston), sailing to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan and Grand Cayman. We debarked
the Liberty, went through customs and after a very short walk dropped our bags
off with the porter for the second part of our trip. We barely slowed down long
enough to send our carryon bags through security, checked into the Breeze and
boarded her for an 8-day cruise stopping in Grand Turk, San Juan Puerto Rico,
St. Thomas and St. Maarten.
Fast forward a few years and now
both the Liberty and Breeze call Galveston home. That makes three Carnival
ships sailing year round from Galveston, with the Freedom rounding out the
trio. Both the Freedom and Liberty are Conquest class ships, so have the same
basic layout. The biggest difference between them is the décor.
We’ve done this particular
itinerary (Montego Bay, Jamaica; Grand Cayman; Cozumel) several times before,
but I picked it again specifically to have a chance to dive the USS Kittiwake.
She was sunk to make an artificial reef, and configured for divers of all
levels to enjoy, much like the C-53 in
Cozumel. I’ll write in more detail about these stops when I get to them.
Shortly after our first cruise in
2007, I wrote a day-by-day blog of the trip at the request of some of my
friends who have never cruised before. They wanted a taste of what the whole
cruise was like, not just the highlights of the ports. I thought I’d do this
again, but this time I’ll make each day a unique post. This will let those who
aren’t that interested in the day to day minutiae skip to the parts they are
most interested in. On the past several cruises, I’ve kept a day to day journal
mainly for my own entertainment, but haven’t posted them in any public forum. I
do this for many reasons, such as helping me determine where certain photos
were taken if not obvious, dinner menu selections, and times on and off the
ship. I’ll use the notes I took from this cruise to write each day’s entries.
Let’s kick off this “cruise
log,” starting with embarkation day, shall we?
Sunday, 5/15, Embarkation - Galveston
Keith and Barbara Seiser stayed
the night with us, so we could all board the ship together. Since they live almost
two hours away, it was more efficient for them to stay with us and be able to
sleep a little later. All of our checked luggage was already packed, so other
than a few last minute items for our carryons, we were ready to go. Obviously
we didn’t want to eat a big breakfast, with lunch on the Lido being just a few
hours away. I had some breakfast pastries, coffee and hot water for tea ready
for everyone’s breakfast. I helped Keith and Barbara tag their checked luggage
and we loaded the car. Normally Cindy and I have someone drop us off at the
cruise terminal, but since there were four of us, we reserved a spot at one of
the nearby cruise parking facilities. We managed to cram everyone and
everything into the car and we were on the road shortly after 10.
We got to EZ Cruise Parking around 10:50 and
luckily a shuttle bus was just unloading people who were disembarking the
Breeze. We got loaded up and dropped off at the terminal a few minutes later. A
porter was there to take our checked luggage and a short walk later we were
being checked in. On this cruise, our VIFP status changed
from “gold” to “platinum,” so we got priority checkin. Boarding was already in progress,
so once we got our sail and sign cards, we had just a short wait before we
boarded. We walked onto the ship at 11:45.
A quick note here, about the
“sail and sign” (“S&S”) card I just mentioned. The cruise ship is a
cashless experience. When checking in, you pay either a cash or credit card
deposit for your shipboard account. Your S&S card is used to pay for items
purchased in the shops, alcohol, soft drinks and other specialty items. It’s
also your room key and boarding pass when getting off and on the ship at the
various ports of call. Your photo is electronically embedded in the card so
when it is scanned, your photo will pop up on the screen. For security
purposes, your cabin number is not printed on your S&S card. Basically, you
keep this card with you at all times while cruising.
Another benefit to priority
boarding is that our cabins are guaranteed to be ready upon our arrival.
Otherwise, without this priority boarding or another program called “Faster to
the Fun,” you might have to wait until 1 pm before your cabin is ready. We
dropped off our carryon bags and headed up to the Lido deck for some lunch.
Our home for the next 7 days
[Note: on most modern cruise
ships, the Lido (pronounced “LEE-doh”) deck is the open deck containing one or
more pools and contains many public areas like buffets, bars, etc.]
Lido deck
I will be referring to several
different decks and locations on the Breeze, so to make it easier to visualize
what I’m writing about, you can find an interactive deck map of the Breeze here.
Since very few people were on the
ship, there were no lines to contend with. We selected the Tandoor Grill on the
aft Lido for some savory Indian food. I’m not as big a fan of Indian food as
Cindy is, but I can generally find something tasty. I’ll usually select either
the butter chicken or the tandoori chicken, or both.
Cindy, Keith and Barbara filling their plates
We gave Keith and Barbara a brief
tour of the ship, mainly the Lido deck and Promenade deck (deck 5), as that is
where the biggest majority of events and activities take place on the ship. We
introduced them to the RedFrog Pub, one
of my favorite hangouts on the Carnival ships that have it. If I’m not hanging
out somewhere on Lido, chances are you’ll find me at the RedFrog Pub (“RFP”). I
don’t know what it is about the RFP staff, but they seem to be a cut above the
rest. Now, please don’t get me wrong. ALL of the staff I’ve ever encountered on
Carnival ships are gracious and friendly and want to help. It’s just that the
RFP staff seem to always take it to the next level.
Our mandatory safety briefing was
held at 3:30, and about an hour later we were underway for our first port of
call in Jamaica. Normally I like to stay on deck for sailaway, but with a light
drizzle, I stayed out for about half an hour. Thanks to a very active Facebook
group, we had a cocktail hour from 5 – 6 in the Liquid Nightclub lounge. We
paid $19 per person (it was Ka, I tell you, for all you fans of Sai King) for
unlimited drinks. Dinner was at 6, so we went directly from the cocktail party
to the main dining room (“MDR”).
Another thing I tend to emphasize
on these “cruise logs” is the food! I’ve described myself as a “finicky
foodie,” but the operative word here is still foodie. I’m telling you right now that each day will include at
least my dinner selections, if not lunch. I tell people all the time, “if you
are hungry or bored on a cruise ship, it’s your
fault.” Many people don’t realize just how good some of the dining on board is.
Hopefully my descriptions and photos will show just how easy it is to put on
some pounds while cruising. So, what did I have that first night?
Appetizer: Jalapeno
poppers – very tasty but totally NOT spicy
Main: Honey
glazed pork loin with carrot cinnamon puree – excellent
Dessert: Apple
pie a la mode - I'd have more if I wasn't so full already
Dinner usually takes about an hour and a half, from start to finish. After our
first dinner, we headed back to the cabin to change into our “comfortable
clothes” and relax for the evening. Not that what we were wearing for dinner
was “uncomfortable,” but it’s hard to beat shorts and a t-shirt for ultimate
relaxation. On a 7-day cruise, there are two “formal” nights in which one can
expect to see people dressed in everything from slacks and a long sleeved shirt
to a tuxedo, with a business suit for men and a cocktail dress for women being
most common. The other nights are “cruise casual” and almost anything is
allowed except for shorts and swimwear. I normally wear some “Dockers” and a
nice button down shirt. So, in order to keep them somewhat clean and
unwrinkled, I’ll wear that only for dinner. Otherwise, I’m in shorts, a t-shirt
and my Tevas.
This cruise was one of the few
times we didn’t do too much after dinner. Normally we are in our room just long
enough to change clothes and we are back out the door. I always take my GPS
receiver with me on any trip, and anytime I’m on an open deck I’ll keep it
going to record a track log. I then download this track log, including dive
sites, onto Google Earth. It makes for some really cool data. Typically the
last thing I do before retiring for the evening is go out onto the open deck
and take a waypoint and just watch the waves and listen to the water as it flows down the hull for a while. It’s incredibly
relaxing to do this.
Coming up next, our first “fun day at
sea.” You can find it by clicking here.
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